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Banish body acne!

Have you ever stayed away from the lovely dress or top just because your body zits are definitely not worth a show-off? Have you ever gone through the nightmare of pesky acne on your back and chest?

Let’s talk about bacne and chestne. And how to get rid of them so that you can banish the bane forever!

It’s just acne, but the pain, discomfort and embarrassment of having less than perfect skin can certainly make you feel depressed.

What is this acne?

Yep! It’s a kind of details you already know perhaps. Acne is a skin condition that produces inflamed breakouts on your skin. The breakouts occur when your skin’s sebaceous glands, which produce the sebum (oil) become clogged by dead skin cells or an abundance of sebum. When clogging occurs, bacteria can develop, and these bacteria are at the root of acne’s inflammation. Whether you call them zits, pimples, blackheads or whiteheads, acne breakouts tend to be one of two major varieties:

Acne vulgaris: This is the more common form of acne, which exhibits itself in blackheads or whiteheads.

Acne cystic: This severe form of acne occurs when the clog is deep within the follicle. It manifests itself in the form of red bumps, pustules, nodules and cysts on the skin. These can be very painful, and they can also cause deep scarring.

Let’s take a look at what causes this severe acne and how you can combat it.

What Causes Bacne and Chestne?

There is no scientific explanation for what causes back or chest acne!

Acne appears on the areas of body where the sebaceous glands are most dense. Most acne sufferers, a full 92%, experience facial acne. The back and chest are also problem areas for people with acne, with 60 percent of sufferers reporting breakouts in these areas

Acne on your back and chest, or “bacne” and “chestne”, as some call it, tends toward the more severe types of acne, causing more pain, scarring and even extreme embarrassment. Most dermatologists agree it is more difficult to get rid of these and the chance of recurrence is remarkably high.

Back acne tends to occur around puberty when the sebaceous glands start functioning. When too much sebum is produced, pores and hair follicles can become clogged, attracting bacteria. This can lead to acne.

Stress, oily and sugary foods, excessive sweating and even genes have roles to play in the causes of back acne but the exact reason of the outbreak and recurrence is hard to be pin-pointed.

There is also no scientific proof that back acne is developed from tight clothing, excessive sweating and heavy backpacks. Yes, they contribute to make it far worse.

Do not keep sweaty or dirty (read, unwashed) clothes close to your skin for long.

You know this. I know this. And still—it happens.

Sweat that sits on your skin for too long makes a perfect cocktail with your sebum, dead skin cells and clog your pores. Keep wiping the affected area with a soft cloth or towel or cleansing wipes (the ones suitable for acne-prone skin) as you sweat.

Caution: Remember to be gentle. Rubbing your acne can worsen the situation.

Always use washed undergarment, top and a fresh towel.

It’s tempting to want to recycle your clothes for a second wearing, especially, if you see the clothes hardly dirty enough to wash or was too busy or forgot to do laundry. But you must resist! For the sake of your skin! Hard but worth the effort.

Use soap or wash with salicylic acid or benzoyl peroxide

Don’t use a creamy, moisturizing body wash. Wash with a product with salicylic acid. It binds with the sebum and washes out the every trace of it.

Benzoyl peroxide is an ingredient that I don’t recommend for face acne because it can be irritating and dries you out. But for body acne, use a benzoyl peroxide wash. I’d suggest a 10 percent benzoyl peroxide wash. You apply the product, leave it on for a couple of minutes and then wash it off.

Avoid getting any hair conditioner/mask, heavy moisturizer or self-tanner on your back and chest.

These might not directly cause your bacne/chestne, but they may aggravate the problem and even prevent it from clearing up as fast as possible.

While using hair conditioner or mask, wash your body LAST, after you’ve already dealt with the hair stuff because even rinsing out a conditioner or hair mask may leave a film on back.

If you moisturize your back regularly stop using any creamy products. Opt for gel formulae or oil-free moisturizer specially formulated for acne-prone skin.

Self-tanner is a strict no-no unless you can find a super-light formula. You can try fast-drying gels.

I should probably also mention sunscreen. Opt for the ones that will not break you out. Choose the ones for acne-prone skin.

Get rid of dead skin, because dead skin clogs the pores, and then that, together with oil and bacteria, is what makes the acne scenario difficult. However, don’t scrub too hard, or you’ll increase irritation.

You can also use gel-base gentle scrub. Make sure they are not creamy and is meant for acne-prone skin.

Use sunscreen

Exposure to sun makes any spot scar, it makes pigment stay in your skin. So if you do have bacne, it’s going to make it stay. So you really have to wear sunblock over your back, not just for protecting yourself from the harmful rays of the sun, but also to prevent that bacne from scarring.

Excessive washing: Acne isn’t the result of dirty skin, so there’s no need to scrub your back four times a day. Do keep your back clean washing with a suitable produce once a day and exfoliate gently once or twice a week.

Popping pimples: As tempting as it is to get rid of pus-filled zits by popping them, you should avoid squeezing acne blemishes. Picking can cause further inflammation and force the pus deeper into your skin.

Unproven home remedies: Oatmeal, nettle, mint, lemon juice, aloe vera and vinegar and numerous other kitchen stuffs have also been thought to be able to stop acne. However, most of these products has been medically proven to work, and some may even cause further irritation to your skin.

If you’re going to conceal with makeup,

Concealing pimples on your chest is way harder than working with facial ones. The main thing is to make sure you’ve got a concealer that’s an exact match to your skin tone.

The other thing you want is a super-fine brush. Like, not even a concealer brush, something like a lip brush! That will help to camouflage the blemish only and not the entire area surrounding it. That only draws MORE attention to your issue.

Stress, Diet and Body Acne

If you’ve had acne, you’ve probably heard that you can cut down on your breakouts by controlling two simple things in your life — your diet and your stress level. This isn’t always the case, though.

Some people believe their acne is aggravated by specific foods — such as chocolate, peanuts, shellfish and fatty foods — there’s no scientific evidence that supports this. If you suspect that a certain food is making your acne worse, you can avoid that food. It’s always a good idea to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Not only is a balanced diet important to an overall healthier self, but it’s also good for the health of your skin.

The other advice to reduce stress to clear up acne, frankly, may not have a big effect. Normal, everyday stress doesn’t cause acne; however, chronic stress can make it worse. In fact, it is one of the chief contributors to adult acne. Stress can worsen acne because it affects your body’s hormone production. When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands produce more cortisol, and this change in hormone levels causes your sebaceous glands to produce more oil. This excess sebum in your skin makes it easier for your pores to become clogged. Although you can’t live a completely stress-free life, there are ways you can reduce your stress levels.